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Scientists have found new but indicative evidence that the distant world orientates another star may be home.
The Cambridge team, which studies the planet’s atmosphere called K2-18B, revealed signs of molecules that are made only by simple organisms.
This is the second and more promising time of life -related chemicals in the planet’s atmosphere of James Webba (JWST) in space telescope.
But the team and independent astronomers emphasize that more data need more to confirm these results.
A leading researcher, Professor Nick Madhusudhan, told me at his laboratory at the Cambridge University Institute of Astronomy, which hopes to get evidence soon.
“This is the strongest testimony, but maybe there is life. I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal for one to two years.”
K2-18B is two and a half times higher than the size of the land and is in seven hundred trillion miles from us.
JWST is so powerful that it can analyze the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere from light that passes through the small orbits of the red sun.
The Cambridge Group revealed that the atmosphere seems to contain a chemical signature at least two molecules associated with life: dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimetil disulfide (DMD). On Earth, these gases are made by marine phytoplankton and bacteria.
Professor Madhusudhan said he was surprised at how much gas had been detected during one observation window.
“The amount we estimate this gas in the atmosphere is thousands of times higher than we have on earth,” he said.
“So, if the association with life is real, then this planet will rush with life,” he told me.
Professor Madhusudhan went on: “If we confirm that K2-18, it must mainly confirm that life is very common in the galaxy.”
At this stage there are a lot of “ifs” and “buts”, as the team of Professor Madhusudhan recognizes freely.
For the first time, this latest detection is not in the standard necessary to open the opening.
To do this, the researchers must be around 99,9999% that their results are correct rather than reading Fluke. In the scientific jargon, which is the result of five sigma.
These latest results are only three sigms, 99.7%. What sounds a lot, but this is not enough to convince the scientific community. But it is much larger than one sigma that is 68%received 18 months ago,Which at the time met with great skepticism.
But even if the Cambridge team receives the result of “Five Sigma”, it will not be a convincing proof that life exists on the planet, according to Professor Catherine Haymans from Edinburgh University and Scotland’s astronomer Royal, which is independent of the research group.
“Even with this confidence, the question is still what the origin of this gas,” she said BBC News.
“On Earth it is produced by microorganisms in the ocean, but even with perfect data, we cannot say for sure that this is a biological origin in a foreign world, because in the universe there are loads on strange things, and we do not know what can happen on this planet, which can create molecules.”
This view is one of the Cambridge’s team; They work with other groups to find out if DMS and DMDS can be produced by non -living means in the laboratory.
Other research groups have highlighted alternative, inanimate explanations of data obtained from K2-18B. There is a strong scientific discussion not only about whether there is DMS and DMDS, but also the composition of the planet.
The reason many researchers conclude that there is a huge liquid ocean on the planet is the lack of gas ammonium in the K2-18B atmosphere. Their theory is that ammonia is absorbed by a large reservoir below. But this is equally explained by the ocean of the molten rock, which eliminates life, according to Professor Oliver Short from the University of Cambridge.
“Everything we know about planets that spin by other stars comes from a tiny amount of light that look back from their atmosphere. So, this is an incredibly loose signal that we need to read not only for the signs of life but also everything else.
“With part of K2-18B scientific discussions, the planet’s structure is still going on,” he said.
D -R Nicholas Vugan at the NASA EMES Research Center has another data interpretation. He A published study that suggests that K2-18B is a mini-gas giant without a surface.
Both of these alternative interpretations were also disputed by other groups on the grounds that they are contrary to JWST data, which emphasizes a strong scientific discussion related to K2-18B.
Professor Madhusudhan admits that there is still a scientific mountain to rise when he answers one of the greatest questions in science. But he believes that he and his team are on the right track.
“For decades from now on, we can look back at this point in time and admit it was when the living universe came within reach,” he said.
“It can be a turning point if we suddenly the main question, or we are one in the universe, we are able to answer.”
The study was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.